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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28986819">A Lost Slipper</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinfoiledGanache/pseuds/TinfoiledGanache'>TinfoiledGanache</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Changing it up to fit my whims, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, F/M, First Fic in progress, Forced to have the Force, Imperial Evilness, Imperial Experiment plot, Joining the crew, ManDadlorian, Messy lines, POV Din Djarin, Pining, Tragic fate of the Younglings Pt. 1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:34:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28986819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinfoiledGanache/pseuds/TinfoiledGanache</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Din Djarin's last bounty he received before being kicked from the guild weighs heavily in his pocket. How does his bargain chip join the crew, attach to his foundling, and force him to reevaluate what it means to be a Mandalorian? Maybe she isn't completely useless.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Lost Slipper</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            He really didn’t enjoy Tatooine. Particularly because it always made him sweat. Din wanted desperately to wipe his brow and take a drink but instead kept his eye fixated on his target. He rolled the puck in his hand. She was worth a fortune - something that Karga appreciated more than the empire. <em>I hope so at least</em>, Din thought as he felt the tickle of a sweat droplet falling on his nose. He should have paid more attention when Karga slipped him the puck.</p>
<p>He examined the puck a long time on back at the Crest. The glow had started to feel familiar. A small female with dark hair, her cheekbones pointing to her full lips. She had to be as wealthy as the dress she wore in her picture.  The sleeve was adorned with gems, highlighting the slight dip of her collar. She was pretty.</p>
<p> And it reinforced that female bounties were his least favorite to acquire.</p>
<p>            On top of everything that comes with women, they were usually the ones that surprised him the most. They definitely were the fastest he put in carbonite. He hated when they went from indigent rage to bubbling sobs. He avoided it as much as he could. He preferred hunting for hardened criminals or bail jumpers. He sighed heavily.</p>
<p>            This target, however, didn’t seem like a threat. She had no weapons on her and looked like the <em>last</em> person you would see in a bar. <em>Or on Tatooine. She is incredibly pale</em>, he noted. You had laughed easy when the barkeep flirted, not that he thought she knew the man was. Unless you are looking at the gills of a Quarren and know what to look for, they were very hard to read. He watched her pay for her drink and move to a table. Her dress billowed around her ankles as she sat, the light and loose fabric swaying on her arms as she brought the drink to her lips. Her dark hair turned golden in the only filtered light in the room.</p>
<p>            As usual, someone spots him. It didn’t take long for the room’s atmosphere to begin to shift. It was only a matter of time before this woman noticed and would begin her retreat. His gun is silently set at his side, ready when he was. She’s discreet only in the way her brow furrows, a tilt in her head telling him that you were suddenly aware of the hushed whispers. Her body tensed. He makes his move and her eyes catch him. <em>So bright,</em> he muses as her eyes took him in. They were as pale as she was.</p>
<p>            “This you?” He asks, watching your face wince. Sure was.</p>
<p>            She pulls the puck closer. Her name is written in the guild’s code. <em>Jessara Ravenlocke</em>. He holds still and waits for her reply. Her hand goes through her hologram and her face falls further. He can tell she’s going through emotions that most do. Shock is always first followed by fear. Her eyes move from the puck to him and then back down. Defeat. <em>Not super unusual, </em>Din mused, <em>but I can take an easy job for once.</em></p>
<p>            “Not the best angle, I have to say,” Her voice floats in his helmet, barely audible. “But it is me. I didn’t realize that there was more than one Mandalorian, I thought for sure you had to be the other guy.”</p>
<p>            Her admission surprised him but he kept quiet. To know a Mandalorian means that she had been caught before. <em>And had escaped</em>, he kept his hand near the gun. He was going to have to be careful to not be fooled by her innocent demeanor.</p>
<p>            “Am I allowed to ask if you work for the Empire?” Her eyes are tearing but he doesn’t hear the waiver in her voice.</p>
<p>            “I work for myself,” his tone is harsh, his hate evident. He felt hesitation rising in his chest. <em>Is this a puck for the Empire again?</em> He questioned. Karga would know but he would lose his bargaining chip if he asked. He needed this for the kid. To get back into the guild so that he could provide for him. Din barely had enough food with the odd farmer jobs he was taking. Not to mention, it was <em>demeaning</em>. He was a fucking Mandalorian, not a handy-man.</p>
<p>            “Time to go,” He tells her and she takes a drink before standing. She was shorter than him, more so than he realized at the bar. The top of her head just barely hit his neck line. They begin to leave the bar with the patrons eyes on them. He looked around at their surprised faces - some moving like they were going to interfere. He would turn his helmet to them and they would freeze. They obviously knew this girl well. The barkeep was blocking the door.</p>
<p>            “I can’t let you take her, Mandalorian,” The Quarren stood bravely. “She’s been here months and has never hurt anyone. How much?”</p>
<p>            “It’s not up for negotiation.” Din was surprised but held it together.</p>
<p>            Her voice came from behind the Quarren, “I am going willingly.”</p>
<p>            “This isn’t right,” The Quarren whispers but moves out of his way. They continued, Din telling her to walk for the Hangars, the girl leading them.</p>
<p>He could tell she was crying, her hands repeatedly coming up and wiping her face. He was fighting with himself. If he put her in the freeze, she wouldn’t be able to cry and distract him. He wouldn’t have to worry about privacy or her trying to sabotage him. However, Din thought with his hand pressing the buttons on his wrist to lower the Crests ramp, If she was in Carbonite and Karga denies to take her, then he would be the one she sees when he ultimately would have to defrost her and let her go. He groaned internally.</p>
<p>            “Sit here,” He commanded as his decision fell in place. Her eyes staring at the carbonite chamber in fear. <em>She must have been frozen before,</em> he frowned. He decided that’s probably why she wasn’t fighting. She didn’t want it to come to that. He left her in her silence once the ramp was up and went to the cockpit. It wasn’t usual for him to leave them alone down there but he felt that she knew her situation well enough to not do anything.</p>
<p>            He took the Crest out of port and left the atmosphere. He looked at the hatch quickly before taking off his helmet and using a cloth to clear his condensation. Din preferred the coolness of space to that heat scarred planet any day. He sighed, leaning back in the cockpit preparing for the jump.</p>
<p>            Cries come from the vent.</p>
<p>            He slams his helmet back on and jumps down into the hull. He points his gun at the girl. She jumps from her seat in surprise. <em>She had been sleeping</em>, he observed. She licked her lips and straightened herself, her brow was furrowed from more than just the scare. The child was crying and gaining her attention. Din watched her from the corner of his helmet as he walked to the chamber, unlatching the door. The child wails.</p>
<p>            “What’s wrong?” He held the little swamp rat, rubbing circles on it’s back. He wanted to calm the creature but also keep him hidden. The last thing he needed was -</p>
<p>            She gasped. The child peeked around his arm at her and he felt himself tense. He turned to her. He was taken aback at how close she was getting to them. No fear in her features, just awe. He quickly shoved his blaster in her face.</p>
<p>            “That’s close enough,” He growled, holding the child from her.</p>
<p>            She turned white and mutely obligated him. Din observed her watch the child with questions in her eyes. He switched to a different setting in his helmet and watched her heart rate flicker on the screen. She was afraid of the child.</p>
<p>            “How do you have -” Her head snapped back and Din’s feet instantly spread, ready for her to attack. Instead, she was lifted from the ground, the top of her head touching the ceiling. He was shocked. He felt the child next to him become more rigid and his eyes went down.</p>
<p>            “Hey! No!” Din pushed the child’s hands down, reprimanding him. The girl dropped like a rag doll onto the floor. Din winced. “Hey, you ok?”</p>
<p>            She didn’t answer.</p>
<p>            Din stepped closer, “Are you ok?”</p>
<p>            She groaned, holding her head. The child cooed happily, smiling at the scene. He wanted to punish the child but for what? Instead of answering the Mandalorian, she scooted away from them. She lifted herself back onto the chair and averted her eyes quickly. She rubbed her neck where it had been on the ceiling.</p>
<p>            “You rescued the Donor?” Her voice was shaky.</p>
<p>            “Donor?” Din questioned. He remembered the doctor cowering from him and the machine that had needles approaching the restrained child.<em> Did they take something from him? </em>Din held the child closer as he thought. He pulled his gun slowly out of its place once more. She knew a little too much.</p>
<p>            She swallowed her fear as she watched his gun, “Do you know anything of your charge? What was his purpose?”</p>
<p>            He remained quiet. Din knew that any indication of knowledge could be used if the girl was trying to get out of her bounty. She could be lying. Tears welled in her eyes and her hand went to her scarred arm. The girl took a shaky breath.</p>
<p>            “On Nevarro,” she began talking. Din tensed at her knowledge already, “They hid him in the facility that housed us temporarily. I was to be transported back to the ship in the morning as I usually stay with the doctor and general.”</p>
<p>            Din frowned. He knew that many people knew that he rescued the child on Nevarro from the Empire - that he was paid quite handsomely for it and then burned them. <em>No one knows about the doctor</em>, he realized.</p>
<p>            “What’s your story?” Din found himself asking. He wanted her to talk herself into a lie, to tell something he knew to be false. Just so he had an excuse to not trust his gut.</p>
<p>            Her face became haunted, “If you know his story, then you know part of mine as well. I was locked on a table, surrounded by dead bodies. I travelled with the doctor and the general for these transfusions. They called them Donors but they were just children. I will hear their cries for the rest of my life.” She wiped her tears and continued, “The last transfusion I had, killed several other of my - of the subjects. The general was pleased when I was still alive. He was on the comm when news of a break in occurred, the Doctor’s sobs were quite frantic. They left me alone and forgot to barricade the door. I took the opportunity and tore myself away. Stole some guns and offered them for trade to go wherever. Ended up in Tatooine.”</p>
<p>            Her story ended and he wasn’t satisfied.</p>
<p>            “Until now, I had no idea who he was but it’s him,” She looks up at the child, “He’s the donor. I knew as soon as he connected with me. He showed me.”</p>
<p>            “Why?” Was all Din could muster from the thousands of questions he now had. This girl knew more about the child than he did and it really was becoming unnerving.</p>
<p>            She shrugs, “You ask a lot of questions for a Mandalorian.”</p>
<p>            He felt himself bristle. Not because she was wrong but because she was right. She continued, “I don’t particularly know <em>why</em>. No one was allowed to speak around me but the General. The subjects were all muted by medicine and gear.”</p>
<p>            Din was still. He knew that they wanted the child for something but he didn’t know what. Her use of transfusion meant that they were draining the child of it’s blood. He felt himself get nauseous at the thought. The blood was then given to these test subjects but <em>why</em>. It had to be because of his powers. <em>It had to be</em>.</p>
<p>            “The puck I got,” He startled her as he spoke, “It said for you to be brought in cold - dead.”</p>
<p>            “Pucks - they don’t mean a lot, do they?” she sighs and puts a loose piece of hair behind her ear, the rest of her hair still in a tidy bun despite the attack on the ceiling. “I don’t know the guild - obviously. I know that no one should handle innocent people like they do.”</p>
<p>            “Where are you from?” Din was failing. He wasn’t sure he could return her to Karga.</p>
<p>            She let out a scoff and his eyes darted back in time for a chastising look. “Didn’t the guild tell you anything about me when you got the puck?”</p>
<p>            “I wasn’t listening,” Din admitted and watched her eyes lit up. <em>Not a good sign</em>, he decided.</p>
<p>            “Narutha,” She smiled fondly, “My family hailed from the Naruthian Nobles. It’s a bit out of this Parsec and nothing like the Planets I’ve seen. Which isn’t a lot, I’m afraid.”</p>
<p>            He knew of Narutha only because of the child and his search for somewhere safer for them. It was completely under control of the Empire. He felt himself buckle.</p>
<p>            “What’s the plan, Mandalorian?” He heard her voice waiver and the tears appear in her eyes, “There isn’t much that someone exiled from their home can give you and all I carry is sand. I know my bounty is <em>plentiful</em> and alluring but I wish to appeal to your humanity underneath that armor. I am innocent.”</p>
<p>            Din was in limbo. Where could he drop her that would be safe for someone so… new to this world, his world? He groaned, his modulator only catching it as a breath. “I don’t have a plan.”</p>
<p>            Her tears finally fell from that and she laughed a sob out, “Thank the Maker for that.”</p>
<p>            Din found himself perplexed by her. Was he really going to take on another person into the Crest? <em>It’s temporary,</em> he told himself. <em>Only until she is somewhere safe</em>, he reasoned with himself. The more Din thought the more he realized he couldn’t just keep providing for people. He was going to have to start saving credits to feed these multiplying mouths.</p>
<p>            “What skills do you have?” He tried hard not to sound put out but he realized he failed. She looked dejected. Her brows furrowed and her eyes went distant. She was thinking pretty hard and the longer it took the more questions he had. How has she been surviving - particularly on Tatooine - with no trade or skill.</p>
<p>            “Admittingly, I have very little to offer a Mandalorian,” She frowned, a pink tinge at her cheeks. <em>She was embarrassed. </em>“If you are willing to point the way, I will learn. I can earn my keep.”</p>
<p>            He watched her shift on her seat, obviously uncomfortable with the silence. He just needed a minute to process and figure this out. She had no skills. Ok, so what did he <em>want </em>her to do. He needed Kuiil to stay and help with repairs. A mechanic would save him hundreds, maybe thousands, of credits at ports. He also needed someone to keep the kid. Din recalled being knocked over by a passing bantha. He remembered that he groaned then, looking up at the planet's sky when he realized the child mimicked him and laid down next to him. The child was fearless as he watched Din fight.</p>
<p>            “I’ll set a course,” He determined and set the course for Kuiil. <em>More heat</em>, he silenced his groan and made his way to the Cockpit. He left the girl in the hull once more, her eyes had never left him. The child was squirming hard to get out of his hands but he resisted. When he set the child down and swatted his finger at him with a command to stay, Din turned to the navigation portal and began to do his work.</p>
<p>He glanced at the child, knowing he usually wanted the lever piece by now. The child’s eyes were closed again, his little hand twitching. The child suddenly giggled and began to try to climb down into the hull. A laugh not belonging to either of them filled the hull below.</p>
<p>“Stop,” Din corrected, “We don’t know her.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Arvala-7 was bright when he landed near the moisture farm. He was ready to leave the cockpit after a full day stuck in it with the child. He didn’t want to reinforce any relationship the child was trying to have with the woman, just in case this doesn't go to plan. Distance was proving to be difficult with a child that uses magic.</p>
<p>            “Arvala-7?” She repeated after him, her tone was more of a groan, “Why is it so hot on all of these cursed planets?”</p>
<p>            The moisture farmer waved at the Crest, Din nods in acknowledgement. He ignored her and walked down the ramp. He heard the child shuffling after him but no steps from the girl. Din turned his helmet to a degree and made sure that she had indeed begun to follow, albeit very behind him. He approached Kuiil.</p>
<p>            “Another stowaway?” Kuiil appraised the girl in the distance, “It is good for you.”</p>
<p>            “I don’t -” Din started.</p>
<p>            “I have spoken.”</p>
<p>            The woman finally made her way there, clearly out of breath. She huffed a hello and Kuiil introduced himself. She smiled sweetly but made no offer of her name. She spoke that she was glad to meet him. Din lowered his eyes in a glare, not quite believing her.</p>
<p>            “What is the reason for your visit, Mandalorian?”</p>
<p>            “I need you to teach her to repair the ship,” Din crossed his arms at the shocked expression Kuiil briefly wore.</p>
<p>            “It’ll take time -” Kuiil began but was interrupted by the woman.</p>
<p>            “Wait a second,” She put her hand on her hip and pointed with the other to the Crest. Her sudden confidence rattled him, a brief image of who she probably used to be. He was bracing himself to be offended. “You want me to learn how to repair that? A ship? A <em>star</em> ship? Surely, you must be joking! I wouldn’t trust me with a pod steamer!”</p>
<p>            “I am not joking,” Din keeps the humor he was feeling out of his voice. “And I am not shirley.”</p>
<p>            She huffs a chuckle at his joke and her hand drops from her hip. She looks at Kuiil like she knew he was going to tell the Mandalorian that he was wrong. He smirked at her fallen face when the Ugnaught told her to follow him, turning towards his hut. She floundered a second at Din but shook her head. He fought a grin then and settled on what he was sure was a very smug look.</p>
<p>            They enter the dusty residence and Din takes a seat like usual, the door and the girl in view. The child giggles and runs around the home. He knows he’s probably looking for the frogs that often plagued Kuiil. Din felt tired just watching the kid sometimes.</p>
<p>            Kuiil and the woman discuss his methods at length, her scribbling things down in a crude booklet that Kuiil gave her. Din looked over and saw her neat writing. <em>Don’t pull red wires when it can be avoided. And never ever touch them to blue. </em>She was taking this seriously.</p>
<p>            Din nodded and stood. That’s all he needed to be sure of. “I’m going for work. I’ll be back in a week's time. Keep an eye on the kid.”</p>
<p>            The woman was about to argue but Kuiil quieted her, telling her she needed to focus. He smirked and found the kid, kneeling down just as the child swallowed the legs of a frog. He patted his head and bid him goodbye before walking out of the hut. He felt the woman's eyes on him as he ducked out.</p>
<p>            <em>This could work</em>, he decided. If Kuiil could really train the girl to take care of the crest, and he trusted the Ugnaught to do so, then maybe the girl could work out. He felt hopeful at least, a feeling that he didn’t often get. Din grabbed one of the Blurrgs and made his way to a city of trade farmers that might need help with their passage through Raider territory. They didn’t pay much but it was better than waiting around for miracles.</p>
<p>           </p>
<p>            True to his word, Din arrived back at Kuiils in a week's time. When he walked into the hut, it was empty. Wires and gadgets were busted open and he approached one on the table. It was the IG unit that he had killed for the child. Din realized Kuiil was having the girl practice on it for her training. It made his stomach uneasy.</p>
<p>            He quickly turned on his heel and made his way for the Crest outside. He heard knocks coming from the ship as he approached. Kuiil was sitting on a crate, facing a panel. The woman, <em>Jessara</em>, he corrected himself, was half crawled into a compartment near the ground.</p>
<p>            An acrid smell in the air appeared and the girl cursed. His eyebrows shot up at the language. Kuiil chuckled. He pulled a crate to sit next to Kuiil, observing the girl use her toes to scoot further into the panel. Her physique definitely complimented the position as mechanic, she would need to be small to reach some of the panels in the ship. He noticed at that moment that she had changed. She was wearing beige pants now instead of the dress she had worn on that first day. He tried to ignore the way it hugged her thighs as she grappled with something inside.</p>
<p>            “Ok,” Her voice echoed, “I think I did it this time.”</p>
<p>            Kuiil stood and walked to a switch. Suddenly, the room became cool.</p>
<p>            “Perfect.” Kuiil turned it off and the Mandalorians eyebrows furrowed.</p>
<p>            “Air conditioning?” Din sounded surprised, “A star ship doesn’t <em>need</em> air conditioning.”</p>
<p>            Kuiil laughed, “Rather the girl practiced her mechanics on the hyperdrive, Mandalorian?”</p>
<p>            Din shook his head and watched Jess scoot from the compartment. She had streaks of grease on her shirt, beige like her pants he noted, and when her hands grasped the entrance he saw the burns that made her curse.</p>
<p>            She didn’t look up at him until she was nearly completely out but when she did, she startled.</p>
<p>            “Oh!” she dusted her hands off and stood. “Mandalorian, you’ve returned.”</p>
<p>            “How goes the training?” Din turned his attention back on Kuiil.</p>
<p>            Kuiil nodded, “She needs direction but has a talent for this. An engineered way of thinking. She will be good.”</p>
<p>            “Kuiil,” Jessara sighed with admiration in her tone.</p>
<p>            “I have spoken,” Kuiil turned to leave the Crest.</p>
<p>            “Where’s the child?” Din turned to her and saw her watching Kuiil. <em>Did she want to stay?</em> He wondered.</p>
<p>            Her mouth parted as she realized he was talking to her, “He’s asleep. Been about an hour if you want to wake him up. He’s there on that hammock in your bay.”</p>
<p>            Din felt reassured. She had Kuiils stamp of approval and she got the kid to sleep. And putting that kid to sleep was a challenge. Din nodded and followed after Kuiil. He needed to pay Kuiil for his hospitality this time, with the few credits he just earned.</p>
<p>            “Kuiil,” Din entered the hut and realized the Ugnaught had covered the IG unit from view. “I wish to pay you for your assistance.”Jessara came into the hut then, beginning to pack things away. He noticed the hesitation in her movements. He turned to her, “Unless you wish to stay.”</p>
<p>            Her mouth dropped in surprise.</p>
<p>            “What?” She asked stupidly, “Stay with Kuiil? After learning all that about your ship, you want me to stay?”</p>
<p>            “No payment is necessary, Mandalorian,” Kuiil placed a hand on the girl's elbow. “She earned her keep with chores in between her training. I have spoken.</p>
<p>            Din was confused. If the girl didn’t want to stay then why was she acting so strangely? Kuiil left them alone, walking out of the hut.</p>
<p>            “You act as though you want to stay,” He said to her. <em>Not me</em>.</p>
<p>            She looked at him then and her face pursed up, “It’s just Kuiil. It’s such a lonely life. Maybe he can come with us and -”</p>
<p>            “He’s already told me no,” Din told her and her face fell. She was attached to the Ugnaught. She only nodded a response before packing more notebooks and a writing utensil. She now had a bag of clothes attached to her shoulder when she turned to him, she was ready to head to the ship.</p>
<p>            As he closed the ramp to the Crest, Din felt like he was trapping himself. He loved the Crest when it was just him. It was efficient, no glamour and no nonsense. Travelling on the ship with companions was always rough as there wasn’t much privacy. He turned to the girl who looked a little lost despite spending the last week on the ship herself.</p>
<p>            “Your belongings can go here,” Din opened a locker and shut it again. “A cot appears with this button,” He presses it and a Cot begins to slide out from below him. “You can see the fresher there. There is no door at the time.”</p>
<p>            “How do you go with no one looking?” She asked quietly, she was placing her bag in the locker staring at the lavatory in shock.</p>
<p>            “You don’t,” He wanted to chuckle at her face until he realized that meant for him too. He really should have gone before he left. <em>How did he forget</em>. “Problem?”</p>
<p>            “No,” she sat down on the cot, her eyes glancing to the lavatory and then around. “Kuiil showed me some of the ship, mainly where to feed the child. Is that something I should get comfortable doing?”</p>
<p>            “Yes,” The Mandalorian answered her. She nodded in response.</p>
<p>            “He’s rather,” He waited for her. <em>Weird, strange, odd</em>, Din answered the typical responses, “He’s rather cute.”</p>
<p>            Din responded with a breath of air from his helmet. He was cute but he felt relieved to have help with him. Fathering wasn’t second nature to him. He ended the conversation, seeing her become awkward at his presence and went to the cockpit. He tried to ignore the sounds coming from below. Sighs and turning of pages made his imagination see her sitting with her notes, looking around the ship. He wondered if she felt pressured to do well. Din’s expectations were rather low for her but he wasn’t going to tell her that.</p>
<p>            “Oh, hello there,” He heard her say. The child must be up. “Your Mandalorian is up there, pup. Do you want to go say hello?” Din heard the affection in her voice as she continued to talk to the child, her steps up to the cockpit dinging. She didn’t enter all the way but placed the child down on the floor.</p>
<p>“Someone’s here to say hello,” She announced. He turned his chair, seeing her about to descend. He picked up the child, rubbing his green ears and placing him in the chair beside him. Din looked at her retreating form and almost offered her to take the seat opposite but didn’t. He mustn't cross lines.</p>
<p>“Hey there,” he spoke softly to the child. He placed the ball into the child's happy hands and made their way out of the Atmosphere.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sat on a crate near the steamer. The girl was watching the child who was crying for food. Apparently, on demand now. <em>He must have been used to the Frogs</em>, Din reminded himself. A tone hit his ear and he took out the pod, using bowls to separate it. He handed one to the girl, one to the child and placed the other on his knee. He watched her look at the broth, frowning slightly. He could only imagine how different this food is from ones that she grew up with. He watched her bring it to her lips delicately and began eating quietly. The child was slurping loudly next to her.</p>
<p>“What would you have me call you?” She asked softly, gaining his attention again.</p>
<p>“I’m a Mandalorian,” He told her and her face fell in annoyance. Before she could retort he added, “Most call me Mando.”</p>
<p>“That’s not a name,” She sounded annoyed. “That’s people from a planet.”</p>
<p>His ears perked up. She knew of the Mando’a. “You haven’t said your name.”</p>
<p>She scoffed, “Why do I get a name but not the child?”</p>
<p>He raised his brows at her sudden defensive ways. She doesn’t think he knows her name. “Should I call you ‘Naruthian’ or  ‘girl’?”</p>
<p>He sees her falter, her hand coming up with a grimace. “I don’t feel much like a girl. I feel filthy,” Her eyes widen suddenly and she begins to stammer. Her heart rate beeps in his ear quickly rising. “Oh, maker, I didn’t mean like - <em>Sexually.</em>”</p>
<p>He was becoming embarrassed for her.</p>
<p>“I meant I’m dirty!” She slaps her forehead this time.</p>
<p>He couldn’t help it. He chuckled out loud at her, causing her to flounder even more. It didn’t even <em>sound</em> perverted until she said so.</p>
<p>“Ugh,” She placed her head into her arms, her bowl in her hands, “Great.”</p>
<p>Din took the bowl from her and put them in the cleaning compartment. The child’s bowl was now a pillow that the woman was scooping him out of and walking him as quietly as she could to Din’s quarters. He frowned, unsure of how he felt someone touching his stuff but he moved past it. It was her job. He grabbed the child’s bowl and put it away too.</p>
<p>“Shh,” She hushed him and he snapped his helmet at her.</p>
<p><em>First for everything</em>, Din shakes his head. Being hushed on his own ship, hell, being hushed at all is a first. Din watched her close the hatch and sigh.</p>
<p>“He’s a hard little pup to put to sleep,” She reveals. “It took eight or nine frogs to get him to pass out at Kuiils.”</p>
<p>Din didn’t respond despite agreeing with her statement. She went to her cot and laid down, eyes to the ceiling. She didn’t move or continue to speak so Din looked towards the refresher. He took his bowl, feeling doomed, and climbed to the cockpit. He took his helmet off and placed it on the floor next to him. He ran a hand over his face and ruffled his hair before grabbing the bowl of broth.</p>
<p>He would just have to hold it.</p>
<p>Din placed the bowl down and opened up a star chart. Where to take them so that he can hide two imperial criminals and a disgraced bounty hunter? He frowned, zooming farther and farther out. Preferably no desert planets and he didn’t care much for the water ones either. Something in the middle would be nice. He let out a frustrated sigh.</p>
<p>He’s going to have to hold it.</p>
<p>Din brought a lowly populated moon up. It was cold, so that checked that box. It wasn’t populated much. Check. No Empire forces have been reported on there <em>ever</em>. Another box checked. He locked on and put the setting on auto pilot. It had been a little since he had been on a frozen moon and he knew that it was going to get cold. They were going to need supplies, and it definitely was going to have to be temporary. He began looking at the planet's settlements, shifting in his seat slightly.</p>
<p><em>You have to hold it</em>, he told himself roughly.</p>
<p>He looked at the estimated time of arrival and groaned. Two days in Hyperspace. Two days of this? He listened for the girl, realizing he hadn’t heard a sound from below. His leg twitched and he knew it couldn’t wait. He lowered himself into the hull slowly and quietly, light snores reaching his helmet. She was asleep, he sighed in relief but it didn’t last long.</p>
<p>He looked at the toilet. He had to pee. There was no way he was going to mask the sound. It was just water landing on tin for fucks sake. He rolled his eyes and approached.<em>Din, you are a grown ass Mandalorian, </em>He reminded himself. He unzips and looks over his shoulder just a bit as he begins. His heavy sigh leaves him as the sound echoes embarrassingly loud in the hull. He looked back over at the still figure as he finished quickly (<em>Just not as quick as I’d like</em>, he thinks). A quick, erasing suction, a squirt of cleanser and he turns to face her.</p>
<p>Her eyes widen and she completely flips over to avoid his eyes.</p>
<p><em>Fuck</em>.</p>
<p>Din plays it cool and starts up the ladder to the cockpit. <em>Didn’t he hear her snoring? Wasn’t she asleep?</em> He growls internally. He pauses a moment in his defeated retreat, still hearing the snoring and knowing it’s not coming from her. The child.</p>
<p>
  <em>Shit.</em>
</p>
<p>He falls heavily into his seat, thoroughly embarrassed now. He just took a leak in front of a girl. Has he <em>ever </em>done that? Din tried to remember but came up empty. This trip was coming with <em>way</em> too many firsts for him. Din wasn’t sure how he was going to survive with her as a crewmate. Technically, he hadn’t promised her anything and her being on the ship only promised him credits. Credits he didn’t need to give to ill mannered mechanics in star ports, he chastised himself. He needed to get over this childish modesty he was girling about. Din fought with himself for several minutes.</p>
<p>He stilled when he heard the child’s muffled sobs. He pushed the starmap from his view and went to investigate. He jumped down the hatch and locked eyes on her figure. She was bouncing on her heel, the child sobbing into her chest. The child sounded groggy and Din instantly knew it was another nightmare. Jessara looked upset with herself, looking at Din for help. He approached, taking the child from her. The little thing clawed at Din’s armor huffing and whining.</p>
<p>“He was screaming and I tried to console him,” She told Din. The child begins to hush and he climbs into his compartment. He shut the door without speaking to her. He rubbed the child’s ears and watched it’s sleepy eyes close. He reaches up, allowing the child to roll snuggly into the hammock above him. It was their little routine in moments that the child woke. He heard her outside the door, sighing loudly.</p>
<p><em>“Good work, Jess,” </em>He hears her frustration through his helmet, <em>“Can’t even take care of a child. Useless.”</em></p>
<p>He smirks at her abolishment and takes his helmet off in the darkness. The child’s hammock rocks steadily and the child’s soft sighs are heard again. His eyes watched the little lump as he relaxed. Din didn’t know what the child was dreaming of, but it often disturbed the foundling. He wished there was some way that he could help but he had no idea where to start. Exhaustion hit him hard. He pulls his helmet off and brings his hands up to his face. Her smell was strong in here now and he knew it was probably coming from the child. As he rubs roughly, he decides it could be worse. She could smell like a blurrg.</p>
<p>Knocking stirs Din and he pushes the helmet down on his head.He felt groggy, not realizing he had fallen asleep so quickly. He lays his back a moment as his consciousness comes back to him.</p>
<p>“<em>I’ve got breakfast ready if you’d like,” </em>He hears her and his heart races at the next sentence, “<em>The child’s already eaten so I can give this to you. He snuck out and woke me up with his hands in your supplies.”</em></p>
<p>He opens the door, surprised to see her so close to the entrance. She extends the bowl to him. He takes a moment, taking in the new blue shirt she wore that accentuated her nicely. The black pants were loose, the unseen child had to be tugging on them as he watched them shake. Din takes the bowl from her and mutters a thanks. The door closes.</p>
<p>Helmet off once more, Din begins eating the rehydrated meat. He was starting to feel like this whole deal was a little too good to be true. Something bad was going to happen and he felt like it was going to happen soon. He listened to the child giggle and his curiosity flooded him. When he exited, he found his eyebrows raised quickly. She was ballroom dancing with the little thing.</p>
<p><em>Well,</em> Din corrected himself,<em> It </em>looked<em> like ballroom dancing. </em>He didn’t actually know what that looked like but if it’s anything, it was that. Her head was held high and she moved gracefully. The child was extended and he was surprised her arms didn’t burn with how still they were. The child’s arms were raised, laughing hysterically.</p>
<p>“And then, they kiss.” She told the swamp rat, bringing his cheek to her lips. “Suddenly,” She squeaks, wrapping the child to her chest, “the clock chimes and in her haste to leave, her glass slipper falls off. The prince was devastated. He clung to her shoe as he circled the entire kingdom-”</p>
<p>Her eyes widen as they come in contact with his helmet.</p>
<p>“You eat fast,” she breathed, the redness surpassing her neckline and disappearing in her tucked shirt. Din smirked.</p>
<p>“Story time?” He kept his tone playful despite himself.</p>
<p>Her blush deepened and set the child down who ran towards Din. “He was getting rather bored of me.”</p>
<p>The child looked at her, his ears moving up and down and she walked cautiously up. She extended her hand but waited. He eyes watched his helmet as if it could tell her what he was thinking. He realized that the last time she was this close, he almost put a blaster charge in her skull. He didn’t move or answer her unspoken request. Ultimately, she ended up patting the child. It was then he realized where that smell was coming from. He thought it was from the food from the canyon people but it was <em>her.</em></p>
<p>And it smelled good.</p>
<p>He swallowed some of the air in his helmet and her closeness became a little too close. <em>Is she wearing perfume</em>? He asked and then he furrowed his brow, <em>Where did she get perfume?</em> He started to smell it yesterday, instantly blaming his hunger for such a sweet smell. It was faint in the cockpit but down in the hull, it was starting to encompass everything. She took a step back, making a silly face at the kid at the child's giggle.</p>
<p>He put the swamp rat down and turned to the cockpit for escape. Too much was changing for him. First the kid, which he could handle. His antics were easily blamed on his youthfulness. Then she shows up and he can’t even pee. He groans as he thinks about the other part of his digestive track. He <em>couldn’t</em>. He was mortified. Why didn’t he think of this before? This isn’t going to work. He was going to have to build some sort of wall or soundproof curtain. His hand itched to take his helmet off and rub at his eyes.</p>
<p>It’s been a whole day and he hasn’t heard her go yet. He frowned. <em>She had a beskar bladder,</em> he mused but felt a little envious. It couldn’t be healthy for her.</p>
<p>He heard story time begin again, picking up where she left off. His hand swiped the star map with little thought as he listened. The Mandalorians' stories of his youth were war stories but this sent him further back. Soft touches of his mothers embrace, the smell of stew swirling in the redness of the hut. His heart ached an ache he thought he had forgotten about. Had his mother once told him this story? He sighed. He barely remembered his parents. They often haunted him only when the sounds of his Beskar were being morphed. His mother and father had soft features and always looked so lovingly at him. He grunted shutting off the map suddenly.</p>
<p>He turned his helmet towards the hull, the bright hues of heat laying on the cot, another hotter and smaller structure laying on top of her. They were sleeping together. He pursed his lips. Already being so comfortable with the girl was a weakness for the child but it couldn’t be helped. He thought if the child looked towards her like he did his own mother. Softness, warmth, and love pouring through their connection as she rubbed his green ears.</p>
<p>This isn’t productive.</p>
<p>He moved to the hatch and tried to be as quiet as he could. His helmet didn’t do the scene justice. The child had it’s little claws tangled in the girl's hair, it’s soft form breathing almost in sync with hers. She must have been showing him how to draw, papers scattered along with scribbles and symbols he had no idea what they meant. He picked a few up and moved them under her cot. At this closeness, he can see her eyebrows knitting together. The child huffed, she huffed. Their hands twitching in the same fashion. Din felt himself tensing at the direction this was going.</p>
<p>The child’s eyes widened, shooting open.</p>
<p>She startles, a scream dying on her throat.</p>
<p>Din pulled his blaster out of habit.</p>
<p>“Hey,” He says to, well, both of them. “It was a dream.”<br/>            They both cling to each other. The girl swallows roughly picking the child up and moving him to the Mandalorian. She mutters something to him that he doesn’t catch but she pushes him out of the way and he lets her. He watches her run to the toilet, evacuating the meal they had shared earlier. Din looked at the child who was shaking it’s fuzzy ears, its face seeking the comfort of the fabric of Din’s shirt.</p>
<p>The girl was still, using her sleeve to wipe her mouth. Her figure was shaky as she hit the button, the suction sounding through the hull. She used the cleanser and turned to him. She looked pale.</p>
<p>“Were you sharing dreams?” Din asks, breaking the silence.</p>
<p>She nods.</p>
<p>No more words come from her as she goes back to her cot. Her hands rub lightly at her face. Din watched her as the child’s snores started. It was something the child was used to, whatever their dream. It rattled her. What horrors did they see?</p>
<p>“Tell me of them,” Din demands. Her motions still.</p>
<p>“Fire,” She says simply. “Screaming. <em>Children’s</em> screams. Not of him but like him. They were all there for the same purpose but I couldn’t…” she winced, remembering something. “He was flown on a ship with a symbol on it’s side and the calls of his people were as loud as the screaming of the children. I felt his fear when I woke up.”</p>
<p>She grabbed for her paper and began to draw. Din looked over her shoulder.</p>
<p>The signet of Alderaan.</p>
<p>He remembered the footage of the rebel heroes, Senator Organa raising her hand to the crowd and the symbol flowing behind her. He saw it everywhere after that. A symbol to those that demanded to fight the same fate as the planet turned to dust. Was any of this connected? He suddenly wished he had cared to pay attention when it was happening.</p>
<p>Din walked from her. He placed the child on the hammock and shut the door. His visor turned to see her leaning against the wall, a cup to her forehead. The children must have awakened her own nightmares. Din felt sorry for her as she lowered her shaky drink to her lips. The children she knew that had died, their blood mixing with hers. Did they all come from the child’s home? He knew in his stomach that she wouldn’t want to know.</p>
<p>“You ok?” He steps towards her.</p>
<p>“I think so,” She breathes through her nose slowly. “Not often that an unknown alien species projects their dreams to you while in hyperspace on an ancient Mandalorian ship.”</p>
<p>Din chuckles. She smiles a little at the sound and flutters her eyes at him.</p>
<p>She is pretty.</p>
<p>He clears his throat, banishing the thought. He starts up the steps to the Cockpit but hesitates. Din turns back to her.</p>
<p>“Are you going to be ok?”</p>
<p>She seems taken aback that he asks again, “I’m okay.”</p>
<p>He nods at her, allowing that to ease him. He was determined to spend as much time in the cockpit as he could for the next day. Din listened to the girl’s cot creak as she laid down and her eventual slumber overtaking her. He thought about how scared she had looked. When he heard them wake, the child was already getting into things. He heard her scold him, her tone becoming strict and he wondered if that would work.</p>
<p>A bang and a disgruntled sigh.</p>
<p>Nope, his eyes crinkled in his helmet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hoping to post this to see if it is worth the work I've done! I have so much more written in the POV of Jessara (And yes, I am not sold on her name, either). Some constructive and encouraging would be so nice to hear! I haven't posted since my awkward Pirates of the Caribbean, Indy, and Han Solo fics in Middle school.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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